Anayonkar Shivalkar wrote:The funny thing is - (almost)nobody knows why those procedures are in place 
First:
Cat in the Monastery
Secondly:
In a way, I can understand why we really have the gazetted officer attestation in place. This is a kind of verification is for library(ies) which can't afford to have the facility to verify the passport or identity proof because they are not "integrated" with the passport systems or driving license systems. Ideal thing would be to have a library system which does the checks for you. On the other hand a gazetted officer is authorized to do this check by checking your face against the passport (anyone can do this, but are they authorized to do it!!!). So clearly the enabling of the person sitting in the library desk was not done. If you see, it can't be done by random government officer. There are only specific set of people who can(will) do this and they are supposed to do check that you are what you are claiming in the identity proof. (They have a fee and do it without proper process, is something which needs to be fixed in the gazetted officer attestation process, not the library process, IMHO)
Coming to self-attestation and gazetted officer attestation, it is analogous to the question, is your system going to sign the bank statement PDF which is sent out or is it going to use a centralized signing server.
Now, all's fine. Why have such a verification for a library card, is something I don't have an answer for!!
I can think of some reasons, though.
1. If there is a bomb blast in library, we know exactly who that is (assuming library has got a video camera).
2. If you abscond with a book, then they know who to catch. ( the upfront caution deposit you pay might be much less than the actual cost of the book you take).
You may be surprised that in India, to run a library and to be sit in the front desk as an government employee you need to pass courses like CLIS, BLIS and MLIS. (certificate/bachelor/master in library and information science). I'd treat library books, the same way I'd treat any information which is going out of systems (with the non-repudiation part, authentication and authorization involved).
Can you go to a company with identity proof, passport and get an access card to get inside their office? You can't.
That said, I personally support (though however stupid the process may sound to you) this check because, you have no idea how many idiots are there who have absolutely no sense of responsibility and respect towards books. It's like what one of the JR members had mentioned (Pat farrell, I think) - "People are idiots. Period".